Smart cards are used for conducting transactions, such as purchases at a retail locations, financial transactions at ATMs, fees at toll road pay booths, and the like. Some smart cards have contact-less interfaces and employ a variety of wireless technologies, including Bluetooth, infrared, and radio frequency such as RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. One form of RFID technology that has been recently used in smart cards is Near Field Communications (NFC), which permits exchange of data between an RFID device or “tag” and an RFID reader, when the tag and reader are touched or brought within several inches of each other. RFID devices employing NFC technology operate at a radio frequency range of 13.56 MHz, use very small amounts of power, and comply with published standards, including ISO (International Standards Organization) 18092, ISO 21481, ECMA (formerly European Computer Manufacturers Association) 340, 352 and 356, and ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) TS 102 190. When incorporated into contact-less smart cards, they are also compatible with commercially available smart card infrastructure based on ISO/IEC 14443, which includes devices and technology such as the Phillips MIFARE® smart card technology and the Sony® FeliCa Card.
Such technology has also been placed in wireless telephones, PDA's and similar devices, which can be used as payment instruments in lieu of card-like structures. This eliminates the need for a consumer to carry a separate smart card. Thus, the account data (for one or more card accounts) may be stored in and used from a single wireless device (e.g., cell phone) that is carried by the consumer.
Cell phones that employ RFID devices and that may be used as payment instruments have recently become available, such as the Nokia 3220 cell phone, which is described in the Nokia Press Release, “Nokia Unveils the World's first NFC product—Nokia NFC Shell for Nokia 3220 Phone,” dated Nov. 2, 2004 (available at www.press.nokia.com), Harris, C., Nokia's First NFC Product—Why It's Important, dated Nov. 4, 2004 (available at www.digital-lifestyles.info), and O'Connor, M., RFID Phone Payment Systems Good to Go, dated Apr. 25, 2005 (available at RFIDjournal.com).
Once loaded with the proper account information, a cell phone that is enabled as a payment instrument works like any other contact-less smart card. However, there are a limited number of methods used to initially load the necessary account information into the cell phone, and such methods are often not convenient for the consumer and are prone to privacy and security issues. For example, one method is providing a phone (or a “shell” or cover for a phone) to the consumer with the account information preloaded, and the customer thus needs to replace the cell phone (or cover) if there should be a change in smart card accounts. Another method of loading account information is to require the phone be taken to a specific, secure location where the phone can be connected to a terminal by a representative of the card issuer, and the account information downloaded (e.g., through a physical adaptor or through cabling). Neither of these approaches provide flexibility for a customer to have an account added (or changed) when the customer already has possession of a phone with RFID or similar functionality.